Theme: Water | Become a Photo Hunter | View Blogroll

When our older boys were little, there were a couple of state parks nearby where we would often have picnics.

A favorite activity at one was feeding the ducks at the lake. This is Jason at about age 2 or 3.

I think we only rented paddle boats there once or twice. They didn’t have them available all the time. This is Jeremy and I when he was maybe 5. Jim was on a different paddle boat with Jason (the back of whose head is in the foreground) and took the picture from there.

The other state park had this lovely waterfall a very short hike into the woods.

Those were favorite family excursions many years ago. These picture bring back pleasant memories. 🙂

Theme: Drink | Become a Photo Hunter | View Blogroll

This is Jesse, about 11 years ago, getting a drink….

…but not out of a conventional lawn sprinkler. Jim put together some PVC piping and punched holes in it to make a sprinkler for the trampoline:

Looks like Jason is getting a drink there, too. The main idea wasn’t to have a ready water fountain at the trampoline, though that was nice, but to make it fun and cool for hot summer days in the south. Combined jumping on the trampoline with running through the sprinkler.

You’d think the water would have made the trampoline really slick and slippery, but it didn’t — it actually kind of slowed the bounciness. The kids loved it.

(The Ultimate Blog Party post is two below this one. Join in!)

Theme: Salty | Become a Photo Hunter | View Blogroll

The theme for this week is salty, and I chose this picture because the 35 mm camera was accidentally dropped into the Gulf of Mexico after it was taken, so it was “salted” with salt water. 😀 I was amazed that it came out at all.

We were in Corpus Christi, Texas, for a family reunion about 18 or so years ago, and made a visit to Padre Island. I lived in Corpus Christi as a kid, and I had forgotten how much I missed the water til I saw it again. We used to go to the island all the time when I was growing up. I loved that it had sand dunes as far as the eye could see.

This is my middle son, Jason, again. He loved the water and kept crawling right toward it — which is why I think my hand is there right above him, to grab him if he took off again. He always loved water of any kind when he was young — he’d play in the tub for an hour. Sometimes I’d let him fill up the sink and he’d spend all kinds of time there playing with toys. Maybe that’s why he keeps bugging us about getting a swimming pool……. 🙂

Theme: Soft | Become a Photo Hunter | View Blogroll

This is Jason, my middle son, when he was about 5. He’s 19 now, and I hope he doesn’t mind me sharing this photo for this theme. 😀 I thought it “fit” because kids and stuffed animals are soft and cuddly, and this shows a “softer” side of a little boy.